People

Daniel O’Connell - Co-Director of Food Commons Fresno

Daniel was previously the first Farmland Conservation Director for the southern San Joaquin Valley with Sequoia Riverlands Trust and is currently the San Joaquin Program Manager for American Farmland Trust. He has a PhD in Adult Education and Extension from Cornell University and a MS in International Agricultural Development from the University of California at Davis.

Karen Schmidt - Co-Director of Food Commons Fresno

Karen is also a member of the national Food Commons executive team. Additionally, she is leading a USDA-funded farm-to-school program to bring locally grown foods to school districts in Ventura and Los Angeles Counties, and serves as executive director of the non-profit Ventura County SOAR (Save Open-space and Agricultural Resources) organization. Karen has worked on sustainable agriculture, food system development, and renewable energy for nearly 20 years. She holds an MS and a BS in biology and environmental earth sciences from Stanford University and an MBA from the Kellogg Graduate School of Management at Northwestern University.